The term “rust delay” has become uniquely synonymous with Rutherford Rink.
During the winter months, there is as much rust falling inside the 86-year-old building as snowflakes outside. There has also been more sweeping inside Rutherford Rink than at the adjacent curling rink.
Indeed, during a recent Canada West men’s hockey game between the host University of Saskatchewan Huskies and Alberta Golden Bears, a puck hit an overhead metal girder. That caused a massive rust shower, which created a red-orange line to go along with the two painted blue lines and red line.
Even a referee pitched in to shovel up the debris.
Rust delays have become a regular occurrence at Huskie men’s and women’s hockey games.
“When you have rust falling down from the roof in games,” says U of S women’s hockey coach Steve Kook, “it’s just an absolute embarrassment for us to the rest of the conference.”
Support pillars obstruct spectators’ view at Rutherford Rink on the University of Saskatchewan campus.
This is just one of many highly talked about deficiencies for the much-maligned facility.
There are obstructed views due to unsightly posts and black safety netting. There’s no real lobby or foyer. A tiny concession caters to those huddled in the enclosed small gathering area outside the men’s and women’s washrooms.
(For the record, the men’s washroom contains one stall and two urinals.)
The women’s dressing room is a trailer attached to the building.
Band-Aid upon Band-Aid has been slapped on the rink over the years, but how much longer can they keep playing in this building?
“The rink chapter is like the never-ending Days of Our Lives,” says Michael P.J. Kennedy, a longtime hockey enthusiast and author of Dogs on Ice who teaches on the U of S campus.
“We desperately need a new facility,” says former Huskie Athletics director and longtime Saskatoon educator Bill Seymour, a former Huskie player and coach.
“The Huskies have great programs — Cadillac programs — playing in an old jalopy rink.”
Rutherford Rink, called the Ice Drome when it first opened back in 1929, was around before the Great Depression and Second World War, when it would become utilized by Canada’s military for training.
Since then, it’s undergone more cosmetic surgery and facelifts than the late, great Joan Rivers.
In recent years, Huskie teams spearheaded a number of initiatives that resulted in private boxes in the south end, a new team lounge, dressing room renovations for both the men’s and women’s teams and a proud display of championship banners and posters.
“But,” points out Kennedy, “you can only put so much lipstick on a pig.
“As far as the fans are concerned, not only from the too-thick net but also the posts, the hard seats with no backs, boards on concrete seating, very minimal heating which sometimes works, a sound system that cuts in and out and is not audible at many games, the washroom facilities where there is one small washroom for each gender and the concession area which has very limited food and drink variety — if you don’t like Twizzlers, you’re out of luck.”
The concession at Rutherford Rink on the University of Saskatchewan campus.
‘DUCT TAPE AND BARB-WIRE’
As Rutherford hit middle age in the 1960s-’70s, complaints surfaced on campus about pillars obstructing views, a leaky roof, patchwork rink boards, poor lighting and inadequate dressing room and shower facilities for players.
“When I played, it was old,” recalls Seymour. “Every spring or every fall, they crank it up, duct tape and barb wire, and away they go and it’s good for another year. The roof is my concern, with the rust falling and all that kind of stuff, but it’s been ongoing for years.”
Showing its age in the 1980s, evolving from quaint and historical to a dilapidated Dog House, Rutherford Rink saw both its interior and exterior renovated and refurbished at a reported cost of nearly $1 million. New dressing rooms, washrooms and player boxes were built, along with a small concession booth and bleacher-style seating.
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After several false starts, the idea of a new rink on the U of S campus is “getting more traction”
A timeline of important events in the history of Rutherford Rink
LOTS OF STUDY, NO ACTION
In the 1990s, under Bob Mirwald, then dean of physical education, the board of governors approved funding for a feasibility study to be done on a new rink and triple-gymnasium facility for Huskie Athletics. The project failed to go ahead after U of S students vote against an increase in their student fees.
“Our idea was that it would incorporate everything,” Mirwald recalls. “It would provide a triple gymnasium. The overpass going across College Drive would be expanded and replaced and across from it would be a hockey rink, initially right where the (Stadium Parkade) is now.”
By September of 1998, the U of S set up a task force to look into the possibility of working with a private developer on the construction of a new rink.
When trying to re-establish women’s hockey at the U of S, it became even more clear how deficient the Dog House was, recalls former Huskies AD Ross Wilson. The team didn’t have its own dressing room or storage. A trailer, which was attached to Rutherford, became the home of the women’s team.
Wilson’s idea was to build a twin pad, with one pad serving the university and the other being a revenue-generator because, in those days, “you always heard horror stories about the lack of ice in Saskatoon.”
On March 8, 2001, a front-page splash in the StarPhoenix shows an architect’s drawing of a proposed $15-million twin-pad hockey facility, which includes a 2,500-3,000-seat main arena and adjoining practice ice surface. The university’s board of governors approved the proposal but said Huskie Athletics needed to raise the money needed. A committee was formed, chaired by Doug Hodson, but fundraising efforts eventually stalled when it was deemed to conflict with the U of S’s own centennial $100-million fundraising campaign.
“I always felt that, if they were successful in the $100-million campaign, there’d be a portion of that which could go to replacing Rutherford,” says Wilson. “To me, we lost five years of my time. We just could not get past the university’s bureaucracy or priorities.”
Later that decade, private boxes were built in the south end of Rutherford through private donors, including U of S head coach Dave Adolph and assistant coach Larry Grozell. The interior was painted a modern Huskie green. Championship banners and posters were put up for an added facelift. Much of the work was done by coaches and players.
Rafters regularly drop rust on the ice, causing game delays at Rutherford Rink on the University of Saskatchewan campus.
Since 2010, there has been another push to get a new rink on campus, again met with stumbling blocks. An application for P3 federal government funding to help pay for a hotel and rink complex using a public-private-partnership model was turned down.
When the U of S administration issued a request for developers to submit a plan for 30 acres of land wrapping around the Saskatoon Fieldhouse that would include a hotel, a new ice arena, and commercial and shopping spaces, the university reportedly received seven bids on that proposal. None of the plans met all the university’s criteria.
Meanwhile, both Huskie teams took it upon themselves to get a new player lounge built as well as improvements to their respective dressing rooms — all helped by private donations.
In April 2013, U of S announced plans to go ahead with a hotel next to the Stadium parkade as part of a larger College Quarter development, but plans for a new rink were put on hold.
In April 2014, U of S announced it was looking for a private developer to build a new rink and wanted to hear from interested parties with bid proposals.
In the months that followed, the rink was temporarily closed down due to asbestos removal. Also, the first day of practices were cancelled when a pipe burst near the south goal-crease.
A broken pipe under the ice at Rutherford Rink was quickly repaired on Sept. 2, 2014 in Saskatoon.
Fans set up benches and lawn chairs at Rutherford Rink on the University of Saskatchewan campus on Oct. 31, 2015.
RINK SAGA CONTINUES
The Rutherford Rink saga continues.
“Undoubtedly, Rutherford has seen its useful life come and gone a long time ago,” says former Huskie player Dan Hulak, now a principal alumni player.
When you bring up old Rutherford, some people seem to not know whether to curse, laugh or cry.
“Well, I don’t even know where to start with that one,” says Huskies athletic director Basil Hughton.
“I just think it’s long overdue … We’re limited in the sense, certainly by seating capacity, by opportunities to enhance game day. All the things we’ve done at football, and other sports to a lesser extent, we’re just not able to do at Rutherford Rink.”
Michael Jenkins, who is charge of business development for Huskie Athletics, remains optimistic that there will be a new rink on campus and that it’s a high priority for the U of S.
“If we had a modernized facility, we think our recruiting and business model with the athletic department would be significantly stronger,” Jenkins says. “As well, from a corporate sales and sponsorship and advertising perspective … and in terms of corporate suites, club seats, concessions, season tickets, beverage sales, individual ticket revenue, all that kind of stuff.”
“They’re making progress,” adds Wilson, “but, boy, it’s been a slow, slow process.”
dzary@thestarphoenix.com
Twitter.com/@DZfromtheSP
With beams and pipes above, fans set up benches and lawn chairs at Rutherford Rink on the University of Saskatchewan campus.